Oculus Rift

[AG-51_Fireball]

[I moved this out from under the Tailhook thread, just because...]

CobraJ brought his Occulus Rift to Tailhook and let us try it. I have to say it was damn cool! There's no question that this (or its successors) is the future of...everything. At some point real soon it's gonna be like most of us feel about TrackIR today...if somebody took my TrackIR away, I'd have no interest in flying. It's hard to describe, but it's just such an advance in immersion. SeaQuark just got one too, and I think he'll agree.

I think 5 years from now, what we're doing now with monitors and TrackIR, is just gonna seem so...quaint.

The only thing that keeps me from ordering one tomorrow is the cost. It's something like $600, plus I'd have to get a new computer to run it on. It takes a lot of horsepower.

As a side benefit, you look really good wearing the goggles. 

[AG-51_TwoLate]

Thanks fireball for the review. Any more you can say would be nice like graphics and such. Glad you two made it home safely.

[AG-51_Fireball]

Any more you can say would be nice like graphics and such. Glad you two made it home safely.

The graphics quality of the Rift was certainly not as sharp and crystal clear as the monitors we have now. It's a little hard to describe, but the image is sort of "grainy" maybe? Or maybe a little shimmer to it? Cobraj said that the graphics could be set higher than what he was running, but that would take a machine with even more horsepower. Cobraj's was some form of an i7 with a 970GTX or 980GTX.

Another issue is you can't see your keyboard, so you'd probably be limited to just using keys that you could find easy enough by feel.

Both of those issues might seem to be showstoppers...until you've put one on your head and seen it in action. Then you'll say, "Well the graphics quality is good enough, and I can work around the keyboard issue. I just NEED one of these!"

Now I don't think Razor was quite as impressed as I was. I'll let him give his opinion, however pig-headed and wrong it may be. 

I won't be getting a Rift anytime soon, I'll probably end up waiting for the next generation whenever that may be. But now every time I fire up DCS I'll know that with my 27" monitor and TrackIR I'm playing with yesterday's technology.

[AG-51_Razor]

Well, all I can say is, I couldn't ware those damn things for more than about 10 minutes before I felt like I was going to blow chunks! I realize that there are a lot of tweaks to be made that would make it even better than it was, and I am sure that I will end up with one, probably by next TH. By then I will most likely have upgraded to a 10xx series nVidia card, more memory and probably a faster Proc.

The biggest negative I noticed was the huge PITA it was navigating around within the game and especially in the mission editor. That, and feeling fairly nauseus when trying to fly in game! But I am pretty sure I will get over that. Bottom line is, these will be the next trackIR for the simulator industry.

[AG-51_Thud]

I remember that nauseous feeling when I started using the TrackIR. I wonder if maybe there's some sort of tuning needed to adjust/align  the two lenses to each user?

[AG-51_Bulldog]

I could certainly see myself going this way when the technology has it to where you can actually see and use your virtual hands to flip, switch and turn controls. Just think at that point there would be no more need for the home made pit.

[AG-51_Cobraj]

Yeah the horsepower to run this at its highest settings is not even produced yet I believe. I might be able to have it look nicer with a 10x 80 series but not sure if my processor can push a 10x card. I use the highest powered i7 processor with 32gigs of ram, and a 970GTX. In DCS it has a setting for pixel density which I have to have set at 1.2 and the max is 2.0 I can set it to 2.0 density but it's a slide show. Setting to anisotropic 16Q and highest antialiasing is also a frame killer for me. So the 3 settings that would increase or improve the graphics for me are just not obtainable yet. The resolution I believe is not supported either at 2160x1200. This technology is still in its development stage but it is working. I read they are working on a CV2 version that will be much improved. I fear the cost of ownership will surely limit the customer market because you will need the absolute best processor and graphic card to run it.

[AG-51_Bulldog]

Cool thing about this is the technology is still very young and it's just a matter of time I believe and you will see full attachment of hardware extras like actuated suits that will record all movement, gloves and I wouldn't even be surprised if there isn't some type of new controllers that become available that will show up as you look to control..... Who knows the possibilities are endless... pretty soon no one will want to go to work but stay home and play games!!! So hurry up all and make those fortunes so you can afford all this...LOL...

[AG-51_Cobraj]

Yeah it will take some cash for sure. They are and have developed this Leapmotion device to work with FSX. The guy is working on other sims but I don't think DCS will give him the code access he needs to develope DCS which really sucks.

https://flyinside-fsx.com/Features/LeapMotion

Examples

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp4-mLuV6lA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf-zLCmwsEk


DCS example of what is possible now. It isn't working well though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJdphVgTZRQ